Falling Back
by J9
Summary: Sara has a problem (Warrick-Sara)


**Title:** Falling Back

**Author:** Jeanine (jeanineiol.ie)

**Rating:** PG

**Fandom: **CSI

**Pairing: **Warrick/Sara

**Word Count: **996

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, just playing.

**Summary:** "Sara, you have a problem"

**Author's Notes:** For the LiveJournal FirstLines1000 Challenge #25. This is what happens when the sister and I go out walking and talk fandom for miles.

"Sara, you have a problem."

Sara dragged her head up slowly, fearful of the sight that would meet her in the bathroom mirror. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as it could have been; eyes tired, but not bloodshot, face pale, but not from illness. Pale except for slight redness here and there, around her lips, her chin, her neck, and the memory of just how those patches got there had a rush of red coating her cheeks.

"Gee," she muttered. "What gave it away?"

Silence as she turned on the taps, splashed her face with water. "You want to tell me how the hell this happened?"

"I would if I knew." And for once, it wasn't for the normal reasons that she didn't know.

"You'd been drinking."

"But I wasn't drunk… I knew what I was doing." Sara dropped her head, hands braced on the washbasin as realisation struck. "And so did he."

"Did he ever." The salacious smirk had Sara's stomach turning two different ways, one for each meaning.

"Not helping."

"Look, you knew what was going to happen when you went out for a drink with him." Sara was ready to protest, but she wasn't allowed to. "And if not then, you certainly did the later it got." A pause where the truth settled on her shoulders.

"This was a bad idea."

A derisive laugh. "Falling for Grissom was a bad idea. This? This is so much worse than a bad idea."

"Still not helping."

"How about this then. You're single, he's single, you're consenting adults… you put it behind you and move on."

"You sound like Catherine."

"Maybe. That doesn't mean I'm wrong."

Sara splashed more water on her face, ran damp hands over her hair. "We work together… we're friends…"

"With benefits." Another smirk, another stomach roll. "You're acting like this is a shock."

"It is."

"You mean you've never thought of him like that? Not once?"

There was nothing that Sara could say to that, because she had, though not often. Something about the way he looked at her, the way he challenged her, the way that he never let her away with anything… it was never boring being around him, that was for sure.

"We shouldn't have done this," she said quietly.

"Maybe you should have done it sooner."

"It's not that simple."

"Maybe it should be."

"Sara?"

A new voice made her jump, had her head whipping around towards the closed door. She swallowed hard, her throat going dry, her hands beginning to shake. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words.

"You ok in there?"

She still couldn't speak, even though she wanted to tell him not to come in. She really didn't want to see him now, not before she collected herself, and she found herself backing away from the door, not stopping until the back of her legs hit the cool porcelain of the toilet. Sinking down on it with shaking legs, she heard the inevitable next words. "OK, if you're not answering, I'm coming in…"

With that, the door opened, and she looked up into Warrick's worried green eyes. She tried to smile at him, to reassure him, but then her eyes trailed down his body, taking in the faded blue jeans and bare feet, the lack of shirt – not a real surprise, considering she was wearing it. A surge of lust derailed her train of thought and she looked down, bracing her elbows on her knees, resting her head in her hands.

She heard him take a couple of steps in. "You need a partner for that conversation?" he asked, and she went even redder, chancing a glance up at him. There was a knowing smile hovering around his lips, and in contrast to her, he looked completely serene. "Or you ok on your own?"

She took a deep breath. "You heard?"

Warrick shrugged. "I woke up when you got out of bed. When you didn't come out, I came looking." Another shrug as he came closer to her, sat down on the edge of the bathtub. "You weren't so hard to find."

Despite herself, Sara smiled. "My apartment's not that big," she noted, and he chuckled.

"I like it though," he told her. "What I've seen of it." Not that much, if she recalled correctly, though she does seem to remember the path they took through the living room to the bedroom, spilling clothes like breadcrumbs on the way.

The thought brought her out of the moment, back to reality. "Warrick-" she began, and he stopped her by simply holding up a hand.

"I know what you're going to say, Sara," he said, with the slightest of grins. "I've actually kinda heard most of it." She looked down, smiling too. "You think this is a bad idea… because of work."

She closed her eyes. "Everyone knows about Grissom," she said, without a hint of embarrassment, because this was Warrick, and he was the one who knew all her secrets. That's part of why they'd ended up here. "I don't want it to look like-" Her voice trailed off and she shook her head.

"It's not like that," he said swiftly, and she raised an eyebrow. "You falling for me is different to you falling for Grissom."

"It is?" Sara looked into those green eyes of his, and in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to believe him. In fact, it surprised her how much she wanted that, and she knew that if she heard the right words, she would fall into his arms and damn the consequences.

Warrick reached out, took one of her hands in both of his. "Yeah," he said, his voice low and husky, sending shivers up her spine, and she held her breath, because his face told her all she needed to hear. So she leaned towards him, fell into his arms, and heard, muffled against her hair, the right words.

"Because I fell back."


End file.
